Cross-cultural exchanges and global communication

Global Barbie

• Western consumerism becoming a global phenomenon
  • Sara versus Barbie in Iran
  • Barbie seen as a threat to Islamic values, symbol of cultural imperialism
  • They were afraid of the westernization that Barbie brought along
  • In response to the Barbie Iran produced their own doll, Sara.
  • Iranian dolls, Sara and her brother Dara (an Islamic cleric), are modest alternatives and were actually pretty popular
• Barbie in Japan
  • They were also afraid of the westernization that Barbie brought
    and the
  • The image of the Barbie was unsettling. Many children were afraid of the new doll with its long legs and arms.
  • A lot of Americans thought that the Japanese couldn’t handle how pretty the doll was.
  • Previous propaganda from WWII played a role in the distrust of the doll.
  • The company Mattel created a new doll for Japanese market named Licca which is still popular to this day
  • Where as Iranians reject image of Barbie, Japanese adjust Barbie to their aesthetic

Consumption and cultural interaction

• Global culture of consumption was also known as Americanization or McDonaldization
  • Due to advertising people were more influenced by western culture especially food and clothing
  • Homogenization of global culture: blue jeans, Coca-Cola, McDonalds took away from the ethnic restaurants and traditionns

• Western icons often replaced local businesses and indigenous cultures
• Brand names also identify local products, for example, Swiss Rolex, Perrier, Armani

• Pan-American culture competes with United States
  • Eva Peron (Evita) has become a pop icon in Argentina and beyond because of her musical talent and her performances hit Broadway
  • Latin American societies blended foreign and indigenous cultural practices such as “Spanglish” which was an attempt to combine Spanish and English. Having an MTV Latino was another foreign intrusion

The age of access

• Globalization minimizes social, economic, and political isolation

• English became the primary language of global communication systems
  • Critics: mass media become a vehicle of cultural imperialism
  • Xia Hong said that “The Internet is an information colony” he attempted to create an exclusive Chinese language network that would consist of Chinese characteristics
  • China attempts a firewall to control the people from being influenced by a capitalist country instead of maintaining their communist ways.
• Adaptations of technology in authoritarian states
  • Some countries used US technology such as the television as a tool to reach masses of people and try to make themselves look better.
  • An example was in Zaire where the television showed dictator Mobutu Sese Seko walking on clouds to portray himself as a higher being.
  • In Vietnam and Iraq their government limited access to foreign servers on their Internet.